Individual toothbrush sterilizer and holder



lNew'. 17,1925- v J. w. LOCKERY IND` IVIDAL TOOT'HBRSHSTERILIZER ANDHOLDER Filed 'July e. i923 v vv al. @.7 M

lNvl-:NjroR BY o v ATTORNEY Patenied'mvg 17, 1925.

JOHN W. LOCKERY, oF scannen-PENNSYLVANIA INDITIIVIDUAL TOOTHBRUSHSTERILIZEB AND HOLDER.

Application ll'ed July 6, 1923.` Serial No. 649,899.

To all whomt may concern;

Be it known that I, JOHN W. LOCKERY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new' and useful `Improvements in Individualwhich the following is a specilication- The object of my said inventionis the provision of an individual tooth brush holder and sterilizercharacterized by simplicity and cheapness of construction, the capacityAto hermetically seal the brush that it contains, the adaptability to bequickly and easily cleaned, and the facility with which a brush may bereachedA and sterilized 'and removed for use and the facility with whichthe brush may be replaced to drain and be sealed.

ing of the individual tooth brush holders and sterilizers of glass,porcelain or other vitreous materiall so as to promote the sanitarycharacter of the devices and at the same time render it feasible to makethe devices in different colors of markedcon-v trast so that differentmembers of a family may have nov diiiiculty whatever in identifying theholder and sterilizer that .contains his or her individual tooth brush.

To the attainment of the foregoing, the invention consists inthe'improvement as hereinafter described and definitely claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification i Figureyl is a side elevation showing a tooth brush holder and sterilizerconstituting one embodiment of my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same taken in the plane indicatedby the line 2 2 of Figure l. l

Figure 3` is a horizontal section of the same taken in the planeindicated by the line 3 3 of Figure 2 looking downwardly.

' Figure 4 is a side elevation of a modified tooth brush holder andsterilizer.

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-section of another modification.'

Figure 6 is a4 horizontal section of the same takenl in the planeindicated by the line (3f-6 of Figure 5, looking downwardly.

Similar numerals designate corresponding parts in F igures'l to 3 towhich reference will first be made.

The body l of my novel toothbrush holder and sterilizer is tubular inform, open at its'upper end, and provided at its lower en-d with aheav'ybase 2 so that when it is desired to standthe body on a vtable or othersupport there will be little liability of the body turningfover.Primarily the body is designed Vto be hung on a wall support, and tosaid end the body is provided at 3 with an integral apertured lugadapted vto be placed over the upstanding portion of a bracket 4 such asshown in Figure 1. The' said body l is of glass or other appropriate lvitreous material, and the forward portion My inventionalso contemplatesthe makof'its upright wall is o'f less height than the rear portion ofsaid wall, as designated by 5 in Figure-2 so that when the cover 6 isremoved froin the body l, the handle. 7 of a tooth brush in the holderand sterilizer may be readily grasped'for the removal of said- A brushfrom the holder and sterilizer vas well 'as for the convenientmanipulation of vthe brush in the holder and sterilizer as will behereinafter set forth in detail. The cover 6 is provided with a knob 8,preferablyl knurled as illustrated, vand it will further be noted thatthe cover is characterized bypendent annularyflanges 9 and 1 0, spacedapart to receive between them the upper end of the body l and also toseat between them a vgasket 11 which is adapted tobe superimposed on theupper end o f the body l with a View to contributing to the hermeticalclosure of the body l when the tooth brush 7 is therein contained. Atits'under-v.

side the cover 6 is chambered as indicated by 12 to receive the'upperend ofthe handle of the tooth brush after the'manner illustrated invFigure 2. I would also have it understood atl this point thatagrol'indu`assure the closure being air tight when the cover 6 is superimposed onthe body'l. In the center of the bottom of the body 1 is a stud 13, andsuperimposed on the said bottom, about the said stud, is an expansionspring 14 which is adapted to rest in a body 15 of antiseptic solutionand is also' designed to yieldingly support a tooth brush supportingplatform 16, the said platform having a central pendent portion '17vdisposed in the upper convolutions of the spring and being also providedwith spaced and bifurcated' arms 18, Figure 3, so as to permit of thefree passage ofthe solution that drips from the toothbrush bri-stlesback into the bodyy of solution contained in the lower'portion of thebody 1. i

In the practical use of the embodiment illustrated, the tooth brush isheld in the holder and sterilizer after the manner clearly shown inFigure 2so that any excess solution that may be in the bristles of thebrush can freely drip back into the body of solution. Then it 'isdesired to use the brushv it is simply necessary lfor the user to removethe cover' 6, and grasp the handle yof the brush and then move the brushdownL wardly against the action of the spring 14 until some or all ofthe bristles of the brush are immersed in the body 'of antisepticsolut1oni 15, whereupon the brush 1s removed from the body and is usedin conventional manner, and then replaced in the body 1.

, Manifestly the comparatively low height of the upper end of the frontportion 'of the body 1 will contribute materially to the facility withwhich the brush handle may be graspedv and the brush may be manipulatedin-the manner described." It .will also be noted here that when thebrush is replaced in the. body land the saidbody 1 is closed .throughthe medium of the cover 6, the brush will becompletely isolated from thedust and air of the apartment in which the brush holder and sterilizer.is disposed', and at the same time the brush will be yieldinglymaintained by the spring vabove the body of antiseptic solution so as tothoroughly drain the antiseptic solution from the bristles back into thebody of solution. It will further be noted that when it is desired toclean the holder andsterilizer, the same can be expeditiously and easilyaccomplished 'after the body 1 is removed from the bracket 4. .y A Inthe modification of my invention l shown inFigure 4, the body 1a isdesigned to receive antiseptic solution as shown together with a float20 of glass or other appropriatematerial, the float being designed to beforced down to or near the bottom of v the tubular body when the brushis. pushed downwardly in the body, and the float being also designedupon removal of pressure from the brush torise 'and .supportthe brush inraised Aposition and with its han dle end in position relative to theupper end of the body to permit ofsaid handle end being convenientlygrasped. It will also ybe noted that the float will serve when force isremovedfrom the brush to support the brush above the solution so as topermit solution to drain from the bristles back into the body ofsolution: The float in practice will be made to closely fit the insideofthe Atubular body, though there willbe sufficient 4clearance to permitthe float to freely move up and down. BothV ends of the float arerounded, and whendesired the float can be removed for cleansing purposesby simply inverting the tube. y

It will also be noticed that the upper end of the forward portion of thebody laL is cut away as indicated by 5a for-the purpose beforedescribedwith reference to the` embodiment in Figures 1 to 3, and that thecover6,

in Figure 4, is exteriorly similar to the cover (i, of Figures 1 and 2.

In the modification of my invention shown in Figures 5 and 6,v the body1 is partitioned to provide two compartments lb and 1C, the compartment1b being designed to contain antiseptic solution 15a, and theprecedentfto use of the brush, and then after use of the brush, thebrush is returned to the compartment 1, and rthe cover 6a-which as shownis formed with aconcavity above the partition to allow fumes', vapor andthe above the partition and to the compartmentl 1c so that it will comein Contact with the brush therein as will be readilyapparent uponviewing Figure 5 of the drawings. This action taking placeafter' thecover has been replaced, which will also result in the brush beingpreserved in l' a hermetically sealed casing, and the bristles will bepermitted to drain antiseptic solution into the lower portion of thecompartment l'3 so that the drainings will also keep the vbrush in asanitary condition.

`Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure'byLetters Pat-- tent, is:'- M

An `individual tooth brush holder and sterilizer comprising a bodypartitioned to providetwo side by side compartments, one

like from the antiseptic solution to pass of said compartments 4being'adapted to receive a predetermined quantity of. antiseptic solution, va-f stationary 'foraminous rest iao bridging,r the Walls of' the otherCompartment and come in Contact 'with the .brush ment and arrangedadjacent the lower end therein, parallel spaced flanges depending 10thereof to support a tooth brush to drain 1 from the cover and engagingthelinner and therein, d, @over for said body and being outer sides ofthe Wall of the body and said formed with a coneavity overlying theparwall and 'flanges cooperating to form a hertition whereby fumes fromthe antiseptic sometically seal therebetween. lution in the solutioncompartment will pass In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

above the partition into the other compart- JOHN W. LOCKERY.

